Shareware Overload/ShartewareOverload.cdr/windows/windbug.zip/WINDBUG.TXT

Text File | 1990-06-26 | 13KB | 275 lines

From nuucp@alux2 Mon Jun 11 10:16:29 1990
From: [e-mail] (W D Earnest)
Xref: cbnewsm comp.sys.ibm.pc:31709 comp.windows.ms:2646
Path: cbnewsm!att!rutgers!apple!well!phred
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc,comp.windows.ms
Subject: Problems with Windows/Disk Manager/1024+ cylinder hard drives
Keywords: Windows, Disk Manager, FDISK
Distribution: comp
Lines: 260


             IS WINDOWS 3.0 A THREAT TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM?

   The new Windows 3.0 environment, with its greatly improved interface,
memory management and developer and user capabilities, gained near-uni-
versal acclaim when it was released by Microsoft on May 22.

   But now, thousands of users around the country are asking the ques-
tion: What is the REAL price of using Windows 3.0?  In addition to the
more mundane problems affecting any major new software release, many
users are reporting serious difficulties with Windows 3.0.  And some
have had disk failures and file losses because of severe incompatibili-
ties between Windows and certain large hard disk drives and disk format-
ting programs.

   As users buy new, more powerful systems and upgrade existing ones to
tap the power of Windows 3.0, a wave of disk problems and data loss is
starting to sweep the MS-DOS world.

   In July 1989, Microsoft released a limited-circulation memo which
stated, in part:

     Many non-standard (i.e. non-FDISK) disk partitioning schemes
     will cause problems when used with Windows and/or the
     SMARTDRV.SYS disk caching utility.  This information applies to
     Windows/286, Windows/386, and Excel.  Specific partitioning
     methods that will ALWAYS cause problems include the following:

     -  Disk Manager by Ontrack & Seagate (DMDRVR.BIN)

     -  Priam disk partitioning (supplied with Priam hard disks)

     -  Golden Bow V-Feature Deluxe

     -  Partitioning used by CORE hard disks (cannot be changed; contact
        Core)

     -  Any system with a XENIX or UNIX partition on the hard disk

     Windows will NOT work properly on ANY system using one of the
     above methods for disk partitioning.  Other brands of utilities
     may or may not cause problems . . . Because of the large number
     of partitioning-utility versions and methods of partitioning the
     hard drive with them, it is impossible to say whether a given
     utility will definitely cause a problem in a particular configu-
     ration.


   The underlying reason for these problems is that some routines in
Windows, for performance reasons, bypass DOS disk services (and associ-
ated disk utilities like Disk Manager and SWBIOS which change the way
disk writes occur in normal operation) and write directly to disk
through BIOS.  Symptoms of the resulting discrepancy range from mild to
severe, with file systems damaged and data lost.

   Yet, in its general publicity and documentation for Windows,
Microsoft has utterly failed to warn hundreds of thousands of affected
users that their programs and data are vulnerable to these problems.
Nowhere in the Windows 3.0 manual or in associated literature (such as
the Hardware Compatibility List) are these limitations mentioned.  For
example, the Windows 3.0 manual (pp. 513-514) strongly encourages opti-
mizing hard disk interleave, which "can drastically improve your sys-
tem's speed."  But there is no warning about the dangers of using Disk
Manager or other such programs which provide low-level formatting and
interleave selection!

   The purpose of this message, therefore, is to alert current and
potential Windows users to these problems, and to provide impetus for
Microsoft to address this situation in a timely and effective manner.


A. INCOMPATIBILITY WITH DISK MANAGER AND OTHER DISK FORMATTERS

   PROBLEM: The first type of difficulty occurs with 80386-based systems
using: (1) a "permanent swap file" under Windows 3.0 in 386 enhanced
mode; and (2) using a non-Microsoft disk formatter such as Disk Manager,
SpeedStor or Vfeature.  Many users have noted the inability to load and
run certain programs, and non-destructive system lockups.  With the
exception of very large hard disks, as noted below, no problems occur as
long as Windows is not running in 386 enhanced mode, or a permanent swap
file is not in use.

   WORKAROUND: Microsoft has published a workaround on CompuServe to
address this problem.  Briefly, two things must be done to avoid prob-
lems while using third-party disk formatters: (1) switch the permanent
swap file to a temporary swap file (see the Windows 3.0 manual, pp. 525-
529); and (2) add the line:  virtualhdirq=off  to the SYSTEM.INI file in
the [386ENH] section.  Note: The temporary swap file is much slower than
the permanent one, because the latter creates a block of contiguous disk
space which is written to directly by Windows.


B. DESTRUCTION OF HARD DISK SYSTEMS WITH MORE THAN 1,024 CYLINDERS

   PROBLEM:  Windows (all versions), like DOS, only recognizes the first
1,024 cylinders of a hard disk.  But unlike most software, it can write
directly to disk through BIOS.  This is a major risk for larger hard
drives, which may be using SWBIOS or similar software-based extenders to
address cylinders beyond the 1,024th.  A mismatch between the DOS-level
situation provided by SWBIOS and the BIOS-level situation encountered in
a direct disk write can be fatal.  One Windows 3.0 beta tester in Port-
land, Oregon recently had a Conner 150 MB drive trashed by Windows 3.0.
Many other incidents of similar disasters with large hard disks have
been reported.

   WORKAROUND:  At present, there is no reliable workaround.

   Some RLL and ESDI drive controllers support "sector translation" at
the hardware level, making the drives they support appear to have no
more than 1,024 cylinders.  Use of or conversion to these controllers
may avoid the problem.  However, not all large MFM drives are RLL-com-
pliant.  In any event, reformatting hard disks is costly, tedious and
error-prone.

************************************************************************
If you are unsure about the safety of your system: STOP USING WINDOWS
IMMEDIATELY IF YOU HAVE A DRIVE WITH MORE THAN 1,024 CYLINDERS!!
************************************************************************


   The following is a partial list of commonly available drives with
more than 1,024 cylinders (number of cylinders in parentheses):

Conner Hopi CP-30104 (1,522), CP-3204F (1,366), Stubby CP-4044 (1,104)
Control Data 94186-383 (1,412), 94186-383H (1,224), 94186-442H (1,412)
Fujitsu M2247E (1,243), M2248E (1,243), M2249E (1,243)
Imprimis 94186-383 (1,412), 94186-383H (1,224), 94186-442H (1,412),
   94196-766 (1,632), 94246-383 (1,747)
Maxtor XT2085 (1,224), XT2190 (1,224), XT4380 (1,224), XT8760 (1,632)
Micropolis 1551 (1,224), 1554 (1,224), 1555 (1,224), 1556 (1,224), 1557
   (1,224), 1558 (1,224), 1653 (1,249), 1654 (1,249), 1663 (1,780), 1664
   (1,780),
Microscience HH-1090 (1,314), HH-1120 (1,314), HH-2160 (1,276)
Miniscribe 3085 (1,170), 3130 (1,250), 3180 (1,250), 9230E (1,224),
   9380E (1,224), 9780E (1,661), 9000E (1,224)
NEC D5655 (1,224), D5662 (1,224), D5682 (1,633)
Priam 630 (1,224), V185 (1,166)
Rodime RO5040 (1,224), RO5065 (1,224), RO5090 (1,224)
Seagate Swift 94354-230 (1,272), Wren 94244-383 (1,747), Wren 94246-180
   (1,453), Wren 94186 (1,412), Wren 94186H (1,224), Wren 94286-380
   (1,747),


DISCUSSION

   Microsoft believes it cannot respond to the growing number of "non-
standard" disk systems available to Windows users.  The reality is that,
precisely because we want to use resource-intensive programs and envi-
ronments like Windows 3.0 efficiently, millions of PC users employ
third-party hard disk formatters because of the severe shortcomings of
MS-DOS.

   Since the mid-1980s, the increasing availability of large drives from
40 to 300 megabytes and more has gone hand in hand with efforts to get
around the 32 MB limit in MS-DOS 2.x and 3.x, and the inability of FDISK
to format some drives.  Drives with more than 1,024 cylinders have been
common for several years, especially since the advent of storage-hungry
software such as CAD, database, graphics, bulletin boards, data acquisi-
tion, desktop publishing and software development applications.

   Thus, third-party disk formatting programs have become very popular.
Some, like Disk Manager, are even distributed by major drive manufactur-
ers such as Seagate and Microscience in order to provide a more flexible
and efficient setup for large disk systems.

   Jeff Wickman of Microsoft stated the company's response on Compu-
Serve: "Windows has always been developed around standard format-
ting(<=1024 cylinders) and F-Disk partitioning.  For a larger than 32
meg partition you can use DOS 4.01 and F-Disk."

   But users typically do not know much about the intricacies of format-
ting hard disks.  Beyond that, DOS 4.x is expensive and sometimes diffi-
cult to find, and requires a time-consuming disk reformat, often with
the cryptic DEBUG controller utility rather than a menu-driven format-
ting program like Disk Manager.  As for FDISK, it still cannot install
certain types of hard drives, and it still does not allow full use of
disks with more than 1,024 cylinders.

   Microsoft's Jeff Wickman said, "We knew certain partitioning methods
caused problems for Windows and we knew everyone had DOS and so they
also had F-Disk, so we use this as a development standard."  Thus,
Microsoft's stance on this issue boils down to just another example of
the "not invented here" syndrome.  But much worse, Microsoft has failed
to focus on the limitations and dangers of Windows in its general pub-
licity and documentation.

   Microsoft's unresponsive attitude means that hundreds or thousands of
PC users are enduring frustration and, in some cases, far worse: the
unwitting loss of entire disks by using Windows.  While many affected
users will have backups, and will not lose much data if their hard disks
are scrambled under Windows, that is no excuse for jeopardizing impor-
tant data.

   Yes, there are relatively safe alternatives -- such as running Win-
dows only in real mode, installing DOS 4.x and FDISK, switching to con-
trollers with sector translation, or buying FDISK-compliant hard disk
systems.  But these solutions are inefficient, costly and often uncer-
tain.  The loss of data, time and opportunity is inevitable.  And the
crippling of the computing power so necessary for running Windows is
unconscionable.

   Microsoft's selfish attitude about the limitations on disk storage
devices under MS-DOS has led the company to turn its back on the inde-
pendent development of alternatives such as Ontrack's excellent Disk
Manager.  As a result, users are prevented from gaining full and effi-
cient use of the new Windows 3.0 environment.

   However, there is still hope.  We have seen Microsoft respond --
albeit reluctantly -- to similar issues arising from the limitations of
the MS-DOS environment.  Most recently, a consortium of industry firms,
including Microsoft, agreed to a consensus standard for DOS extender
software.  Here is a similar situation, and it calls for immediate
action.  Microsoft, third party suppliers, developers and users all have
a huge stake in insuring that Windows runs efficiently and *safely* in
the desktop computing environment of the 1990s.


RECOMMENDATIONS

   Responsible MS-DOS and Windows 3.0 developers and users should demand
the following:

     1. Microsoft should widely publicize the potential problems with
        Windows and non-standard hard disk systems and disk format-
        ting approaches.

     2. Microsoft should widely publicize its proposed workarounds
        for these problems.

     3. Microsoft should add protection against these problems in the
        next revision of Windows 3.0, in documentation, publicity,
        advertising and the Windows Setup utility.

     4. Microsoft should cooperate with disk drive and controller
        manufacturers and vendors of disk management and formatting
        programs to address this issue and promptly provide: (1)
        better short-term workarounds; and (2) most importantly, a
        new disk storage standard which is compatible with Windows
        and the mass storage systems and software available on the
        market.


FURTHER INFORMATION

   The two main sources of information for this message have been the
Microsoft Windows forum on CompuServe and the Ontrack Systems BBS
(612/937-0860).  Ontrack is now intensively testing Disk Manager and
Windows 3.0 and promises daily bulletins on their findings.


7 June 1990

Fred Heutte
Sunlight Data Systems
PO Box 40260
Portland, Oregon  97240
503/241-0858

CompuServe: 72461,2224
Usenet: [e-mail]

Forwarded from: Indiana On-Line Bloomington BBS 332-7227
by: Chris Neal Industrial Research Liaison Program  BDNI100@INDYVAX